BONNEVILLE & DRAGSTER STUDEBAKERS, ETC.

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9/05 at Bonneville Kenneth Zetterquist Sets World Record With A Harley Davidson He Built

9/07 Update ...

Willie John got to the track a day early and set up our pits early Saturday, resulting in an excellent location close to the starting line. We went through scrutinizing Saturday afternoon, and passed with flying colors.

The track is in good condition, and is about nine and a half miles long.

We made a practice run Sunday afternoon and did 128.821 mph, which is above our currant record. The bike ran pretty good, a little lean I think. The stud holding the air cleaner on the carb broke off, and I had to make the pass with the chin of my helmet holding the air cleaner on. It was exciting!

Today we will rejet, and try to set a new record.

Z

Monday; hurry up and wait. We waited all day to get to make a pass. We got to the starting line at about 4:30, and were told we had time to do a record attempt. We made our pass; the track was getting a little rough, and a top speed of 128.049. I went to Impound to get ready for my backup pass, and they were closed. The track workers are all volunteers and the correct information does not always get where it needs to be, we will try again tomorrow.

Tuesday; more of the same but a better place in line, organization is improving. We spent the day getting to meet some very interesting people, and doing lots of interviews. We got to the starting line at about 2:00. We were third in line to run when a thunder storm started throwing down lighting bolts right near mile 0. Time to get the hell out of here!

We went to the pits and took down the tents and waited for the storm ton pass, The event was closed until tomorrow, when we will be third in line.

Z

Wednesday; we made our first run at 8:52, of 127.132 mph. We had gone to a smaller jet and it didn’t seem to help. I decided to make a return run to see if the wind advantage would help us, it did not. The return run was 126.741. We made one more run at 3:21 of 125.555, the smaller jets weren’t working.

Thursday; we didn’t get to the starting line until 11:56, it was a long line, and there were some mishaps on the long track. We used a bigger jet, and went 126.625 mph. Time was running out, and we went to impound to wait for a backup run. We would have to go 130 mph to break our record; the wind was at our back. The backup run was at 12:45, and we went 127.128 mph, we were done until next year.

At least we were in good company, many top racers failed to break records.

The Awards Banquet was fun! The final award was presented by Santa Claus and the Buell Brothers racing team. It is the Enthusiast of the Year awarded “ to the enthusiast & crew that best embodies the Bonneville spirit.” When he said the award goes to F.R.C.P. Racing, I was blown away! I guess we’re doing something right! He next told us how much money was raised for the Save The Salt organization, and I thought it wasn’t high enough, so I donated the $1000.00 he had just given us.

We are now trying to come up with our own award to present to someone next year.

4/12/98 - Here is some email just received today - if you have info you can contact this nice gentleman.

Hi Folks,
Really great page. Found the music as I was looking for more
info on Ted and the Chicken Hawk. Was impressed with the quality and
selections (age here is the "past 50" group, way past.) Was pleasantly
surprised to find that Studebaker as I was surfing. Brought back many
good memorys. (I raced a '53 commander coupe) Do you have any more info
on Ted? If memory serves, he was a teacher in Frankton Indiana in the
'60's. Wondered what he is doing and where he's located now. Saw the
date on the picture is '96 is that correct? Anyway keep up the good work
and all the info you have would be appreciated.
If you accept Comp-Dent I have these two teeth----------
Tom Stephany
Martinsville, In.
n9imv@onet.net

Thank you very much for the information and update on Ted Harbit and the
Chicken Hawk. I was amazed that he is still active in the drag racing
sport. Some additional information for your archive; I had the pleasure
of meeting Ted and his wife Mary Ann at the swap meet in Southbend In.
this past weekend (May 2-3). What fine folks they are. We talked about
the "good old days" and such, pretty much like all old folks do. The
problem is he isn't following the rules. He is getting faster as he gets
older. That ain't fair. The sun of a gun went 10.65 last month with a
Stude engine bored .60 over. Can you imagine the reaction time that
takes? At the present time he is unhappy with the car because of a fire
that occured at the last meet. An engine backfire caused a fuel fire
under the vehicle. I did obtain a magazine with a brief auto-biography
of his life up to Jan.'95. Most interesting man. Thanks again for
renewing my Studebaker street rod interest. Don't know if I will do
anything with it or not. Very interesting piece about the fellow in New
Zealand and the similarities of your hobbies. The world really is a very
small place. You must find out if he has an interest in midi music. That
would really be scary if he did. I shall stop boring you with stuff you
probably know about anyway.
See ya doc, Tom

p.s. that stude had a few teeny tiny rather insignificant go fast parts.
it has twin turbo chargers that help it along plus a secret or two. ted
will admit to 550hp but some other folks say it is closer to 700. ain't
to bad for a retired school teacher and basketball coach.

Hello to the Hemp family once again. I remembered that it had been a
long time since we looked at your page and listened to the music. It
was still in the bookmarked section so here we are. Since the first
note to you all in 98 inquiring about Ted Harbit several interesting
things have occured. The new personal best for the Chicken Hawk driven
by Ted of course is 10.5 @ 131mph. He is presently working on a new car
that will still carry the Stude name and engine. The new vehicle is an
Avanti. The idea being to reduce the weight so as to get into the low 9
second bracket. The 51 weighs 3600 Lbs and Ted does not want to destroy
its stock body configuration. That is very understandable after a 37
year relationship with the old girl. The Avanti is coming along much
slower than originaly thought due to the very costly changes being made
to the chassis. My 11 year old son has developed a like for Studebakers
so we go up to Muncie Indiana Saturday evenings to watch Ted make
believers out of some of, shall we say, less matured individuals. It is
most enjoyable to here the comments, " a what beat you? a Studebaker,
ahh man, you got to be kidding" And, " you say it had a Studebaker
engine?" "How does he do that? It really is a lot of fun to watch the
sly old fox. There is a lot of mental agility and "one upsmanship"
required in bracket racing and Ted is the master.
The 11 year old son I spoke of was responsible for getting me
back into the old car hobby again as I had sold the Stude about two
years ago. Ted decided to sell his wife's daily driver, a 63 cruiser,
And my son convinced me to make the purchase.
Ted will be driving George Krem's 64 Lark Challenger again this
year at the muscle car drags in Michigan. Ted tuned and drove the car
last year and made their magazine, Muscle Car Review. The lowly Stude
went 13.38 @ 106.2. According to Ted and the magazine, the crowd really
loved it. This year they expect to get in to the 12's with some minor
but legal changes. You might find it interesting to visit the Michigan
Strip on the 10th and 11th of Sept.
Feel free to update any of the Chicken Hawk information on your
page with what ever you feel may be of interest.

Tom Stephany

The Great Grape-1954 Studebaker Sports Regal chopped. 1500 hp Donovan engine = hopes of new World Record! Currently owned by Jim &
Bonnie Johnson. This is another great historic Bonnieville car!

This car set the world record in 1998 at 198mph & this past week at 204 ... this past week in 1999. .. more to follow

8/14/06
Hi Doc Hemp:
Just thought I would let you know that A)I appreciate the picture you have my dads car - The Great Grape owned by Jim and Bonnie Johnson; and B)Dad passed away at Bonneville doing what he loved just this past Sunday. He had a massive coronary or an aneurism, they are (not) sure which and died peacefully and quickly there. It would mean a lot if you could note that on the site. Thanks.